Draining fresh water tank

[captrcurtis]

We just purchased a used 2013 Palomino Solaire 297 RLDS and the fresh water tank is full can someone shed some light on how I would go about draining it?

[nomad297]

Are you sure the tank is full, or are you just judging it by what the indicator lights say? The indicators are pretty unreliable. As far as draining the tank on your specific model, sorry, but I can’t help you with that other than telling you that you can get most of the water out by turning the pump on and running a faucet. There is a drain somewhere, though.

Bruce

[captrcurtis]

Ok thanks yes there is a lot of water in the tank and I believe the monitor is fairly accurate I ran the the kitchen and bathroom faucets for 15-20 minutes and now shows 3/4 don't like the idea of running the pump long enough to drain 40 gallons of water

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by captrcurtis

Ok thanks yes there is a lot of water in the tank and I believe the monitor is fairly accurate I ran the the kitchen and bathroom faucets for 15-20 minutes and now shows 3/4 don't like the idea of running the pump long enough to drain 40 gallons of water

Don’t worry about the pump — it can handle it with ease. Turn on all of your faucets if you want it to drain faster.

Bruce

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by nomad297

Don’t worry about the pump — it can handle it with ease. Turn on all of your faucets if you want it to drain faster.

Bruce

Ok thanks I'm not sure how long the water has been in the tank thought I'd run some bleach through it also. What are your thoughts?

[nomad297]

Originally Posted by captrcurtis

Ok thanks I'm not sure how long the water has been in the tank thought I'd run some bleach through it also. What are your thoughts?

I wouldn’t add the bleach now because it won’t mix with all of the water in the tank thoroughly. I would wait until the tank is drained, then refill it with sanitizing in mind.

Bruce

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by nomad297

I wouldn’t add the bleach now because it won’t mix with all of the water in the tank thoroughly. I would wait until the tank is drained, then refill it with sanitizing in mind.

Bruce

Great thanks for the feed back I've been away from RV'ing a long time but was into boats up until a couple of years ago.
Now that we are retired going to start doing some traveling.

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by nomad297

I wouldn’t add the bleach now because it won’t mix with all of the water in the tank thoroughly. I would wait until the tank is drained, then refill it with sanitizing in mind.

Bruce

X2 - 1/4 cup of bleach for 15 gallons of water. Let it sit overnight and then flush out the bleach/water solution.

If you're not sure the source of the water or how long it has been in the tank, you may want to sanitize twice.

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by Dave Lyon

X2 - 1/4 cup of bleach for 15 gallons of water. Let it sit overnight and then flush out the bleach/water solution.

If you're not sure the source of the water or how long it has been in the tank, you may want to sanitize twice.

Thank you we have no idea how long or where it's come from

[Mr. Dan]

On most/many units, you can crawl under the fresh water tank and find a drain pipe. Mine has a screw cap on it. Some have one of 2-3 types of valves. You don’t see any drain pipes coming down from your FW tank?

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

On most/many units, you can crawl under the fresh water tank and find a drain pipe. Mine has a screw cap on it. Some have one of 2-3 types of valves. You don’t see any drain pipes coming down from your FW tank?

Haven't really crawled around yet but the underbelly is enclosed

[KyDan]

Toss down your patio mat and crawl under there!
You very likely will see -something- sticking down thru your underbelly cover.
Like others mentioned, it will have a screw off cap or a valve.
Remove or open and get out of the way!

[njfishing]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

On most/many units, you can crawl under the fresh water tank and find a drain pipe. Mine has a screw cap on it. Some have one of 2-3 types of valves. You don’t see any drain pipes coming down from your FW tank?

What Dan said... The drain plug is usually on the bottom of the tank. It's a plastic plug with threads that screws into the tank..

This is not to be confused with your lower drain points which are usually 2 hoses (hot and cold) with caps or valves on them. They are meant to drain all the water out of your lines but would not drain your tank, although if you wanted to, you could open them up and run the fresh water pump and that would drain it. Problem with that method is if your in a cold part of the country and you're winterized, you'd have to winterize again...

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by captrcurtis

Haven't really crawled around yet but the underbelly is enclosed

Yes, I'd say the majority of underbellies are enclosed... but the coroplast underbellies have holes punched in them (and not delicately, either) for things like FW drains and low point drains to stick through them. There is no substitute for looking under the unit and seeing these several drains unless you can get your kids/wife/service tech/etc to look under there.


... and never resort to using my fresh water pump to drain a tank without trying the intended means 1st and 2nd.

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by Mr. Dan

Yes, I'd say the majority of underbellies are enclosed... but the coroplast underbellies have holes punched in them (and not delicately, either) for things like FW drains and low point drains to stick through them. There is no substitute for looking under the unit and seeing these several drains unless you can get your kids/wife/service tech/etc to look under there.

Lol what about grandkids?

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by captrcurtis

Lol what about grandkids?

... or neighbor's grandkids!!


Notice the addition about the water pump I edited into my last post.

[jtesta1]

If it's 3/4 full put 1/2cup bleach in then fill tank and let sit a hour then drain . Should be a valve under unit somewhere.

[Dave Lyon]

Originally Posted by jtesta1

If it's 3/4 full put 1/2cup bleach in then fill tank and let sit a hour then drain . Should be a valve under unit somewhere.

If I was going to sanitize the tank only because of unknown water source, I would do it this way and then follow-up with a second sanitize and open the taps to sanitize the lines and faucets and let it sit OVERNIGHT.

[captrcurtis]

Originally Posted by Dave Lyon

If I was going to sanitize the tank only because of unknown water source, I would do it this way and then follow-up with a second sanitize and open the taps to sanitize the lines and faucets and let it sit OVERNIGHT.

Great thank you

[Dirt Sifter]

What Mr. Dan said. My concern with running the pump and pouring water down the drains is the level of water in the gray tanks already. If they're empty, most likely no problem, if not could be one.